Overthrow of Hawaiian Kingdom

Date: January 17, 1893 • Location: Rome, Italy

Lorrin A. Thurston and the Citizens' Committee of Public Safety led the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom and the government of Queen Liliʻuokalani (pictured).

Lorrin Andrews Thurston was a Hawaiian citizen lawyer, politician, and businessman. Thurston played a prominent role in the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii to replace Queen Liliʻuokalani with the Republic of Hawaii, with discreet US support for which Congress much later apologized. He published the Pacific Commercial Advertiser, and owned other enterprises. From 1906 to 1916, he and his network lobbied with national politicians to create a national park to preserve the Hawaiian volcanoes.